


Caught in the Rain

by artsyAquarius



Series: One-Shot Requests [4]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Comfort, F/M, Fluff, No Sgrub?, request, sleep over
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-28
Updated: 2014-01-28
Packaged: 2018-01-10 08:26:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1157370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/artsyAquarius/pseuds/artsyAquarius
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The last thing Karkat expects to find on a stormy day is Terezi, shivering soaking wet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Caught in the Rain

**Author's Note:**

> A request for n3p3ta on tumblr. I am very proud of this, actually (it's my first Karezi fic).

It’s been raining all day. You’ve been cooped up in your hive, attempting to build a shield around yourself out of copious amounts of blankets to stop the horrible chill seeping into your bones.   
You’ve just been watching movies the whole time. You honestly can’t be bothered doing much else, seeing as if you move an inch, you’ll expose some part of yourself to the cold air. Your third movie of the night finishes, and as you prepare the fourth one, the doorbell rings.   
Wait, what? Why the hell would it be ringing? Who the fuck would be out in this rain?   
You grumble to yourself as you shuffle over to the door, still holding your blankets around yourself. You open it to see a girl with bright red glasses standing out in the pouring rain, nearly shivering to death. “Hi, Karkat.” She says, giving you a half-assed grin.   
You get over your initial shock and grab her arm, dragging her inside. “Oh my god, Terezi, you’re soaking!” It’s true – her hair is dripping on her shoulders and her clothes are sticking to her skin. Her bare arm is cold to the touch. You sigh. “Come on; let’s go upstairs before Crabdad finds out you’re here.”   
She nods, wrapping her arms around herself as she follows you up to your respiteblock. She looks pathetic, like an abandoned barkbeast. It kind of hurts to see her like this, instead of being frustratingly self-confident like she usually is. “Hold on a second,” you hurry off to the bathroom and she sighs, crossing her arms.   
You come back with a towel in hand, and she’s quick to grab it off you and start rubbing herself dry. “Thanks, Karkat.” She says, taking off her glasses and wiping the towel over her face. You supress a grimace at her eerie, pupil-less red eyes.   
“No problem. Now would you mind telling me exactly how it was that you arrived at my door step, standing out in the storm?” you snap, your voice heavy with angry concern.   
She shrugs, turning her head away. “We were…flarping. Vriska and I had a bit of an argument, and…well, yours was the closest hive, and there’s no way I’m walking through the forest in the middle of a lightning storm! It just seemed like the obvious choice to me.” She says matter-of-factly. That was pretty rude of Vriska to leave her in the rain like that, but what else would you expect?  
“So, yeah…I hope I’m not imposing or anything.” She says, grinning. It’s a lot more real than the smile she gave you at the door.   
You blink. “What? No, it’s fine. You think I’m going to let you freeze to death or something? I’m not that inconsiderate.”   
She laughs softly, smirking. “Hey, can I use your shower?”   
This catches you off guard for a second. “Uh…yeah, sure. You do know how to use a shower, right?”  
She raises an eyebrow and sticks out her tongue. “You know I have a bathroom in my tree house, too. But, thanks. I’ll try not to use up all the hot water.” She walks off, her clothes still pretty wet. There’s a puddle on the floor where she was standing. You guess you should mop it up later.   
You head back downstairs to the kitchen and start making some hot chocolate. You figure she could use it. You don’t want her to get hypothermia or something. You never really understood why she enjoyed flarping so much. You wouldn’t be able to tolerate five seconds with Vriska. But Terezi enjoys it so much, so you respect that.   
When you’re down, you go back upstairs. You haven’t heard any sign of life from your lusus. Lazy bastard. If he’s asleep, at least he won’t try to tear Terezi apart.   
“Karkat?” she calls out from the bathroom. You open the door slowly, and –   
Oh, shit. She’s just wearing a towel. Like, literally just a towel. Nothing else. You avert your eyes and see her clothes, still sopping wet, on the floor. Of course she wouldn’t want to put those back on.   
“God, calm down, Karkat! I’m not naked, you know!” she protests.   
“Yeah, but it’s the next best thing!” you snap, then regret it the second it leaves your mouth.   
She snorts. “Next best thing, huh?” you hear her cackle.   
“Shut up,” you mumble. “Wait. Stay right there. And please, for the love of god, don’t take the towel off!” you quickly run to your respite block and find some decent-smelling clothes that might fit her. You hate to admit it, but you’re not actually that much taller than her, so they shouldn’t be too big.   
You shove them at her. “Here, put these on.”   
You quickly exit the bathroom before you can say anything else stupid and embarrassing. Will she be ok to walk home? It’s still raining. She didn’t come here just to be sent out in the cold again. Maybe….maybe you should let her stay the night? Just until the rain clears up.   
“Hey, is there anywhere I can put my clothes?” Terezi says as she steps out. Your sweater is just a little big on her, but it still fits. And your pants are a bit baggy. Of course they are; she’s all angles and bones and you’re…well, not.   
“Yeah, I’ll just take them downstairs. Do you want to come? I, um…I made a drink for you.”   
She smiles. “Thanks, Karkles! I could really use that!”   
You take her pile of soggy clothes (and…fuck, there’s her underwear. Don’t touch that.) and put them on the ground near the fireplace. You’re not sure how well they’ll dry, but it should do for now.   
She takes her hot chocolate and sips it, letting out a happy hum. “Tastes delicious.” She finds her way to the couch and plonks herself on it. “So, are we going to watch a movie, or something?”   
You go and sit next to her, shifting your mound of blankets. “Yeah, there should be something good on soon.” She grabs one of your blankets and wraps it around herself, folding her legs up onto the couch beside her.   
The movie starts playing, but you can’t remember what it is because you feel a sudden sharp pain in your upper arm. “Argh! Terezi, what the fuck?!”   
She immediately recoils from you, looking apologetic. “Sorry! Geez, I didn’t think you’d be so sensitive!”  
You glare at the T.V, turning your head away from her. “It’s not my fault you have such fucking sharp horns.”   
She giggles. “At least I don’t have nubs.”   
You frown at her. “My horns are fine the way they are, thank you very fucking much!”   
She smiles, resting her chin on her knees. “Never said they weren’t. You’ve got adorable little horns.” She shifts around so her cheek is resting against your arm, her horn safely above your shoulder. She slings an arm across your torso, her hand holding onto your other shoulder. “Thanks for everything, Karkat. There’s not many people I can count on to take care of me like that.” She says quietly, almost a whisper.   
She must have been exhausted, because before you can work up the courage to think of something to say, she’s fallen asleep. She’s breathing softly, slowly, and you can feel her breath against your arm. You pry her hand from your shoulder and shift her so she’s lying on her back. Taking one of the blankets, you drape it over her. She…still doesn’t look very comfortable.   
How can someone be expected to sleep with their shoes on? And those glasses look kind of heavy. Being very, very careful not to wake her, you slide her glasses off her face, fold them up and lay them on a table. Then you attempt to wrangle her shoes off her feet. It’s amazing that she doesn’t stir at all. She must be a very heavy sleeper.   
There, that’s better. For a second, you swear you saw her smile, but it was probably just your imagination. You probably shouldn’t go off and leave her there, just in case your lusus wakes up. In a flash of impulsivity, you lean down and give her a quick kiss on the forehead. You pray to god that she actually is asleep, and isn’t just faking it to mess with you.


End file.
